OK, listen up,… you’re talking about going up and down in weight in MONTHS’ time. Building sufficient muscle takes YEARS’ time. Now, yes, you will see competitors dropping 20-30 (I’m putting out a general and conservative range here) lbs in 16-20 weeks’ time, but that is done in an aggressive fashion (relatively), AND they already spent YEARS building the muscle that allows their body to burn through calories every day.
I know the pics you put up aren’t great in terms of what we can see, but even when I was at my heaviest /off season weight of 215-220, you could still see plenty of muscle all over. This is what allowed me to eat 3500 cals a day, and “diet” that first time on close to 3000 daily.
Now, in terms of fat loss, its a genetic issue in terms of WHERE your body will lose fat first, next, and last. If you wanna be ripped, or even get that “trouble area”, you’re most likely gonna have to lean out everything. Considering your experience level, I have a feeling the biggest thing you’re gonna need to understand is where you’re at in terms of achieving your ultimate goal.
My advice?
1- Focus on building muscle, WHILE eating ENOUGH (NOT “BULKING!!!” to support muscle growth and just shy of feeding the fat.
2- Repeat for a couple of years
S